Brazilian thrashers Sepultura have a long and storied past, and I’ve had the privilege of interviewing many of their members, including the Cavalera brothers, Max and Iggor and the matriarch of the Cavalera tribe, Gloria. A beautiful family, and collectively with my time spent chatting with Andreas Kisser and second stint vocalist Derrick Green, all being some of the finest hours I spent in the music industry.

The classic and confrontational Chaos A.D. album from 1993 saw Sepultura slowing down a bit from their steady stream of speed metal, but the changeup in attack plan was to the better. The dialed-back, steadier grooves allowed the band to better shove their war protests and hostile sociopolitical condemnations with such seething anger it wouldn’t have resonated as much playing at breakneck. Sadly, 32 years ago, the themes Sepultura were balking at (political corruption, racism, corporate greed, countries tearing each apart on battlefields manipulated by dictators) have reared their ugly heads again in modern times.

The anarchic lead song, “Refuse/Resist” needs no further preamble, other than it’s a blistering stomp anthem kicking off one of metal’s most important records of all-time. By the time this bombastic march spills into the ferocious and skulking “Territory” thereafter, if you’ve never heard the entire Chaos A.D. album, you’ll know in a hurry you’ve been put on the front lines of a brutal world that needs even more change today than it did in 1993.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.